The Oxford Companion to American Military History

While by no means a comprehensive review of American military history, it is an essential book for any personal library. Entries are detailed and get straight to the point. If you want to know more about someone or something of historical significance without having to read an entire book on it, this is the route to go. As a college student, I have the book nearby at all times (as recommended by a professor). When reading a book, if there is something I do not know much about, I simply look it up in this book instead of the usual sources of information for a college student (i.e. wikipedia). Instead of having to shift through pages of wikipedia materials and wonder if the information is accurate, I get an authoritative summary in less than 5 minutes. I would recommend this reference book to everyone. Military history aficionados will not be disappointed with watered down entries; the general reader with little background in American military history will not be overwhelmed.

The Oxford Companion to American Military History has been awarded the Distinguished Reference Book Award by the Society for Military History in 2001. It has been the subject of several long and highly favorable reviews including those by Russell Weigley in the January 2001 issue of the "Journal of Military History," by Hew Strachan in the February 16, 2001 issue of "TLS, the London Times Literary Supplement," and by Vince Rinehart in April 9, 2000 issue of "The Washington Post's Book World."

This book is NOT a chronological book of American military history, but rather an encyclopedic reference with thousands of entries. No pictures- ... It covers topics including: all the major wars, battles, bios on military leaders, warfare methods, a survey of combat weapons and military hardware, political acts by Congress and treaties, overviews of the military structure and services. It features contributions by notaries like Stephen E. Ambrose and John Keegan... its coverage priorities are odd. The political-correctness bent comes out every now and then in this book...

I originally received this book by accident as an unwanted "feature selection" of a book club. However, I was so impressed with it that I decided to keep it. It contains mammoth entries on America's major wars, many small ones covering lesser known interventions by U.S. forces throughout the world (such as the expedition to Russia in 1918 to fight the Bolsheviks), and biographical sketches of important American and foreign military leaders. Most importantly, this book is fairly neutral and objective when discussing any controversies. Its an excellent overview, and anyone interested in American military history will enjoy it.

Yet another of the superb Oxford Companion series...they just keep on coming! This fine book addresses not just famous battles and generals, but broader topics such as anti-war movements, treaties and the like. A must have for military buffs.